How would you describe your role at RII?
I’m a Principal Visual Designer & Editor, which means I draw, write, and edit to support white papers, proposals, presentations, deliverables, and other design- or marketing-focused documents. I’m primarily supporting the Cyber team, but I have provided support across RII to help when needed. You can read more about my role by checking out my blog post, “Putting the ‘Art’ into Technical Art.”
What did you do before joining RII?
I served in a similar role at a large defense contractor in their Cyber group. Prior to that, I’ve worked in several visual design and technical writing positions, and my earliest career path was in the electromedical device industry, wearing many hats (project management, design, QA, etc.), which helps me quite a bit when working with the engineering team.
Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in national security and the Cyber industry?
I took a job at a smaller defense contractor, and I found the work to be much more meaningful. National defense beats widgets—all day, every day. I then moved over to a large defense contractor, and it was wild to see the alignment between work and real-world events.
What is something you or your team accomplished that made you proud?
In a previous role, one of the first tasks I received was to re-build their document templates to make them stable and consistent. Knowing that white papers and proposals tended to need open cover space to provide related information, I planned space accordingly. Promptly, the first response we had going out the door did not need anything, so we had a big ol’ white space on the cover. A team member suggested some creative art or imagery. I made something quickly and dropped it in, which became the standard process going forward. These designs became the flagship visual element for many programs—with customers lifting them into their presentations and documents. We put them up on the walls, and customers would walk through the facility, picking out their programs by the art. When I left this role, we were pushing nearly 400 designs in total.
What's your favorite part about working at RII?
I like the energy and the hustle. RII focuses on mission first, which makes each day feel like it matters.
